"Yo Renny, whas shakin’?"
Michael Morgan smirked at Renaldo, his father’s long suffering right hand man. Renaldo returned the smirk as he unlocked the door, like clockwork for Michael to enter the penthouse.
"How many times to I have to tell you, my name is RENALDO not Renny, call me that again and your you know what is grass. I don’t care if you are the boss’s son."
Renaldo’s glare relaxed to a smile as he opened the door, this was a brief conversation that had gone on at least once a month for the past few years between them, he was long used to Michael’s antics.
Renaldo peered behind Michael and frowned slightly, "hey where’s your brother?"
Michael shrugged, "he’s bringing up the rear with Jimmy, you know how slow he is."
With that, the elevator door opened as Jimmy emerged, his expression dark as his hand covered his eye. Hot on his heels was Spencer Morgan, a sheepshish grin on his face as he approached Michael and Renaldo.
"What happened?..." Renaldo’s voice trailed off as Jimmy wordlessly entered the penthouse, heading straight for the kitchen. Both Michael and Renaldo turned wordlessly to Spencer. Spencer blushed slightly and lowered his gaze.
"Uh, I was showing Jimmy a new magic trick. It, um, didn’t go off like I planned."
Renaldo simply shook his head as he closed the door behind him. Michael and Spencer quickly slung their schoolbags on the couch and headed to their rooms to change. Private school uniforms were a pain but the security was much tighter.
The two emerged from the rooms and immediately headed for snacks in the kitchen, jumping away from the door as a grumbling Jimmy walked past them, his eye now nursing a bag of frozen peas.
"Sorry Jimmy, maybe I’ll get it right next time!" Spencer called after him. Michael simply shook his head as he playfully ruffled his brother’s slightly curly dirty blond hair. Spencer quickly turned, his dark eyes narrowing as he slapped Michael’s hand away.
"HEY! Don’t mess with the hair man!"
Michael laughed as he grabbed some cookies from the cabinet, his eyes catching the clock. "Hey, we gotta jet man, we are SO late! Mary’s probably fuming."
Michael and Spencer quickly grabbed their coats and food and rushed out the front door.
"Hey! Take a guard!" Renaldo shouted after them as he nodded to Richard, who in turn rushed after the boys.
**********************************
Mary checked her watch. They were late again. Sighing, she sat back and rested against the cushy pillows and shut her eyes. The house was quiet, for once. Mary’s eyes opened suspiciously, the house was a little TOO quiet.
"Oh for heaven’s sake Alan! This doctor is the perfect candidate for the Quartermaine residency!" Monica shouted.
"His bedside manner is atrocious! I like the one from Seattle, at least SHE knows how to smile!" Alan bellowed as the two entered the study, stopping their tirade after spotting Mary huddled against the couch. Mary didn’t move.
"If I don’t blink or breath, maybe they won’t notice me." she thought desperately, but to no avail.
"Mary! My favorite granddaughter, what are you studying?" Monica smiled as she plunked onto the couch next to Mary.
"Uh, just a project for school really. Michael and Spencer are coming over to help."
Monica sucked in her breath as her head jerked quickly towards Alan and back to Mary.
"Both of them? Do Jason and Carly know?" she demanded.
Mary’s eyes widened slightly, she knew better, "I think so, it’s for school."
Monica nodded, "yes of course, school." Her tone became slightly bitter, "not to visit us of course."
Alan sighed sadly as Monica rose from the couch and walked toward the mantle to where the picture of her three children sat. She touched it tenderly, knowing it had been the last time her three children were together in the same room. Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell as Mary jumped from the couch, grateful for the interruption.
Flinging the door open, she gazed happily at the two boys before her and of course, a guard, always in tow. She ushered them in quickly.
"Just go up to my room, I’ll be there in a second."
Michael nodded wordlessly and grabbed an open mouthed Spencer, dragging him towards the stairs. Mary silently entered the study and gathered her things.
"I’m gonna be in my room okay?" she announced.
Alan nodded to her and smiled briefly, "alright sweetheart, dinner’s at six."
Mary nodded and dashed to the stairs, taking them two at a time before reaching her room at the end of the long hallway.
"Hey, glad you finally made it!" Mary said wearily as she launched herself onto her double bed, shoving assorted books, CD’s and clothes onto a heap on the floor.
"Sorry cousin," Michael smiled as he plunked down next to her. Spencer thumped into the desk chair and as usual, swivelled the chair several times before stopping, slightly dizzy.
"It’s cool, I know your parents and the family aren’t that tight and they hate you guys coming over here."
"Yeah, well Dad can’t always pick and choose our friends and family IS a good thing to have." Michael sighed slightly as Spencer flicked Mary’s T.V. on, switching channels until one caught his eye. The local news.
"Today, Assistant District Attorney Dara Jensen has confirmed that federal charges have been laid against several leutenants in the Morgan crime family. Although those charges are not yet extending to crime lord Jason Morgan, Jensen is confident that it is only a matter of time before he too joins-"
Michael angrily snatched the remote from Spencer and turned the T.V. off. Spencer’s eyes lowered in shame as Michael furiously paced the room.
"Another stupid trial!" he seethed, his fists clenched, "now Dad’s gonna be all tense when we get home and we’re not gonna see him for weeks while he’s on business. God, I hate this! I’m so sick of this! They never let up, they paint him like he’s some psycho serial killer and he’s not! He’s a great guy and a great Dad, why don’t they ever report that?!"
"Hey, breathe Michael, just calm down for a second alright? Look, we can do this another time, do you want to go for a walk or something?" Mary said, her voice filled with concern as she rose from the bed to face Michael. Michael’s body relaxed slightly, as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Shaking his head, Michael opened the door, "no, I’m okay, I just need to keep my mind off this. Come on."
Leading the way, Michael walked briskly to the attic door with Mary and an unusually quiet Spencer in tow.
Flicking on the light switch the three thumped up the stairs to a large room littered with boxes and filing cabinets.
"So, where should we start?" Michael asked Mary.
Mary shrugged, "well, how much did Uncle Jason tell you?" Michael laughed, "not a lot, the Q’s aren’t exactly his favorite thing to talk about."
Mary placed her hands on her hips, "wellllll, how about we each cover a section of the room and work towards the middle. Even I’m a little curious about family history."
The three devided up and soon became immersed in the files, photographs and other various papers. Soon Michael came across a box labeled ‘A.J. apartment stuff’
"Hey, Mary, here’s some stuff on your Dad!" Spencer and Mary quickly abandoned their areas and crowded around Michael’s box.
"What’s in it?" Spencer asked as Mary and Michael began rummaging through it.
"A lot of junk mostly, books and papers. Hey, why is there a candy wrapper in here?"
Mary shrugged, "I think Reginald cleared out most of Dad’s personal stuff. He probably didn’t throw out anything. I’ll bet Dad hasn’t even looked through this yet."
Spencer grabbed a book and laughed, "he was reading ‘Little Women’?"
Mary grabbed the book, "so, you got a problem with that?" she threatened as Spencer raised his hands in surrender.
"Hey, what’s this?" Michael asked curiously as a folded blue paper fell out of a folder. Looking at his curiously, he peered as he attempted to make out the faded words.
"It’s a court order," Michael announced confused, "I don’t get it."
"Open it."
Michael carefully opened the paper and was able to easily read the words this time, the fading wasn’t as bad.
"It’s a paternity test," he said finally, clearly confused. Turning to Mary, "why would your Dad have a paternity test court order?"
Reading over Michael’s shoulder, Spencer quickly read further down, stopping near the end, his eyes widened as he recognized the date and time.
December 26th, 1997...unborn child of Carly Roberts.
"It’s you,"Spencer said softly.
Michael and Mary quickly read the rest like Spencer and Michael closed his eyes. This wasn’t happening, not to him.
"He thought I was his kid," he whispered finally as the thought sunk in.
"Not really the kind of family history I wanna know about." Spencer murmured.
Quartermaine home
Michael stared at the long forgotten court order. A paternity test, a test to determine the biological father of a child. Him. He was that child, Michael closed his eyes tightly, hoping for a brief moment that he was actually dreaming, that this day never really happened. Opening his eyes, his shoulders sagged slightly, it was real.
"We have to go," he said suddenly, grabbing Spencer’s arm as the two rose from the floor. Mary gave Michael a curious look.
"Are you okay, I mean this is kind of startling," Mary said finally as the three left the attic and headed for her room.
"Nope, we should be going, Mom and Dad are gonna be home soon and we should be there when they do, come on Spencer."
Grabbing their bags the two boys hustled down the stairs and opened the front door.
Mary reached out and gently took Michael’s arm, pulling him aside for privacy. Spencer nodded and quickly exited with Richard.
"Hey, come on, talk to me. What are you thinking?" she insisted quietly.
Michael paused for a brief moment, tossing up the reasons then decided against them, "nothing, really. I’ll call you later alright, maybe we can do something this weekend?" Michael smiled brightly at Mary, hoping to convince her.
Mary returned a cautious smile, "well, sure, okay. Call me tonight ‘kay?"
Michael nodded and gratefully left the house for the waiting limo.
*********************************
"Hey Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Morgan," Renaldo greeted Jason and Carly Morgan warmly. Carly smiled, as usual, compared to Jason’s regular nod.
"Renaldo, are the boys inside?"
Renaldo shook his head, "they went out to a friend’s house about 2 hours ago, should I call for them?"
Carly shook her head, "as long as they took a guard, they should be fine."
Jason and Carly entered the penthouse and Jason headed wordlessly towards his study.
Carly entered the kitchen finding Hannah, their cook and the boys nanny, preparing dinner in full swing.
"Good evening Mrs. Morgan," she greeted her comfortably.
"Hannah, were you able to pick up Spencer’s prescription today?" Carly grabbed a bottle of expensive white wine from the fridge as Hannah immediately grabbed two flutes(wine glasses) from the cupboard.
"Yes, Mrs. Morgan, it’s right beside the phone."
Carly turned and grabbed the bag, "thanks Hannah, if the boys come in, just get them started on supper, we’ll join them shortly."
"Of course, Mrs. Morgan."
Carly quickly made her way upstairs to Jason’s study. Checking herself brieftly in the mirror, she gently knocked twice on the door.
"Yeah?"
"It’s me," she announced
"Come in."
Carly entered the study, finding Jason, as usual, at his desk, papers carefully arranged and him deep in conversation on the phone. He smiled at her and motioned her over.
"Look, listen to me Benny. Just double up security and lighten the shipments near the docks, I can’t afford to have the D.A. and cops breathing down my neck all the time. I’ve got the east coast to run here…Just hang onto them until the heat cools down, I got four of my closest guys going to trial next week. I have to be there for them…Good, thank you."
Jason hung up the phone and sat down at his chair and sighed. Carly approached him slowly, "hon? Everything alright?"
Jason smiled at her, "sure babe, nothing to worry about. Same old same old." Eyeing the wine and flutes, he raised his eyebrows giving her a wicked grin.
"Well, what’s all this?"
"Well this is Spencer’s asthma prescription," Carly placed the bag on Jason’s desk. "These are flutes and this is your favorite wine."
Jason raised an eyebrow at her, "really? Is this a celebration of some kind?" His hand slid slowly up her leg, making her shiver with pleasure. He gently pulled her close as she playfully opened the bottle and poured the wine into the flutes. Putting the bottle down she took both flutes and handed Jason one and took the other herself.
"Nope, just wanted to brighten your day," Carly said innoncently as she carefully sat in Jason’s lap. Pulling her close Jason took a sip of his wine before putting the flute on the table. He leaned forward and began softly kissing her neck, Carly sighed happily and took a sip of her wine before also placing the flute on the desk. Placing her arms around his neck, she tilted her head head back slightly as Jason’s kisses slowly moved up. Finally their lips met in a powerful embrace.
"Carly, you brighten my life," Jason murmured as his hand carefully manoevered it’s way to the buttons on her blouse and carefully removed it. His hand slid slowly from the nape of her neck, down her chest before resting on her hip. Carly in turn pushed his jacket off his shoulders and began unbuttoning his own shirt before removing that and placing it next to her blouse on the floor, revealing his muscular chest. She too began a deliberately slow trail of kisses along his neck and down his chest. Jason pulled her close and groaned slightly.
"Carly, I want you," he whispered fiercely into her hair.
"Well, what are you gonna do about it?" she taunted him playfully. It was all Jason needed, he quickly and easily picked her up and walked towards the chesterfield. The two kissed passionately and more feverishly now. Their need was growing. Placing her gently on the cushions, Jason quickly looked to the door and down at Carly.
"Door locked?" he inquired as his fingers ran gently along her rib cage and stomach. Carly moaned and arched towards him, grabbing him she pulled him close and bit his ear playfully before answering.
"Always."
***************************************
"Boys, your parents are inside," Renaldo nodded to them before opening the door.
"Mom? Dad? We’re home!" Spencer hollered. Michael quickly grabbed Spencer, pulling him close.
"Hey, not a single word about today okay?" he hissed menacingly.
"Yeah, okay, get a grip." Spencer eyed Michael curiously before removing his coat.
Hannah emerged from the kitchen, "dinner’s ready boys. Your parents have some business to sort out, they’ll join you shortly now go wash up."
"Alright Hannah," Michael gave Spencer another look before heading off to the washroom.
*******************************************
"Reginald, I’ll be home in an hour, I’m gonna take Belle for a walk." Mary called as she snapped on the leash on her black lab. Belle pulled excitedly towards the door as Mary struggled to get her coat on.
"Mary, it’s getting quite dark outside, so don’t be gone too long okay?" A.J. Quartermaine walked towards his daughter and gave her an easy smile to cover his worry.
"Breathe Dad, I’ll be fine, when’s Mom getting home?"
A.J.’s smile grew as Keesha’s face flashed threw his mind, "she’ll be home soon. All that fundraising work is really going to pay off for a new Ward House in Albany."
Mary smiled happily at her father, "you’re really proud of her aren’t you?"
A.J. pulled Mary closed, hugging her tightly, "of course, I couldn’t imagine a life without your mother and I couldn’t imagine a life without the beautiful gift she gave me either," A.J. said looking pointedly at her, "so be careful okay?"
"I will," Mary insisted before leaving the house as Belle anxiously pulled on the leash. Walking a brisk pace, Mary breathed in the night air deeply, it WAS dark she noticed as the streetlights lit up. "Come on Belle," she pulled the leash towards the crosswalk as the two made their way across the quiet street. Suddenly, out of nowhere a black Jaguar roared down the street. Mary quickly looked up and found herself moving, dragging a terrified Belle to the sidewalk, the car narrowly missing them.
"Stupid Jerk! Learn to drive ‘ya moron!" Mary shouted angrily and with that the car stopped with a screech and slowly backed up to where Mary was standing. Mary’s eyes widened slightly with fear, had he actually heard her?
The driver side door popped open and out jumped the driver. He quickly rushed towards Mary, his face full of concern.
"I’m so very sorry, I’m just getting used to this car, I had no idea I was going so fast. Are you alright?"
Mary nodded angrily, "you almost hit us, you should be more careful!"
The driver stared at Mary mezmerized slightly by her beauty. Mary stared back at the driver with annoyance, "what? Something wrong?"
"No," the driver began softly, "I just hadn’t realized how beautiful you were."
Mary chuckled, slightly flatered at the same time, "uh huh, well, don’t think charming me will get you off so easily."
"No charm, just an admiring observation. You must allow me to make this unfortunate act of stupidity and recklessness up to you."
Mary eyed him carefully, suddenly becoming aware of her own gazing at him. He was typical, tall, dark and very handsome with the most alluring eyes. Mary caught herself and quickly looked away, blushing slightly and chastizing herself at the same time.
"How do you plan on doing that?" she inquired.
"Dinner," he responded immediately. "Would tomorrow night be alright, say around seven at the Rose Garden Restaurant?"
Mary debated against it for a moment, "alright, I’ll meet you tomorrow night at the Rose Garden Restaurant at seven sharp." Turning on her heel she slowly headed back towards the Q mansion.
"Wait, the driver called after her, "I don’t even know your name. Such beauty, grace and intelligence, at least tell me your name."
"Mary...Mary Mae Ward Quartermaine," she responded, "you?"
"Mary," he repeated softly, "a beautiful name." Taking her hand gently, the driver slowly pressed his lips gently to it. Mary sucked in her breath slightly as a shiver of excitement and pleasure ran through her. Raising his dark eyes to her, "the name’s Dominic… Dominic Alexander Cassadine, at your service."
Penthouse
Michael tossed and turned in his bed, he had been for the past few hours. Turning to look at his clock, he sighed. 3:13am. He had to get some sleep, Michael rubbed his hands vigorously over his face, sat up and punched his pillow a few times before flopping back onto it. 20 minutes later, he resigned himself to the fact that sleeping was not going to happen tonight. Throwing off the covers, Michael rose from his bed and wandered to his bathroom. Turning on the cold water, he splashed his face a few times before drying off. Maybe some food might help. Michael opened his door and carefully crept down the hall and descended the stairs to find his father standing by the balcony door in the moonlight.
"Dad?" he whispered and Jason turned slightly, seeing Michael, he smiled and motioned him over. Placing his arm comfortably around Michael’s shoulder, Jason leaned down and pointed to one of Port Charles’s many high rise buildings in the business section.
"See that?" he motioned and Michael nodded, "that used to be my office building when I was with ELQ. Now it’s run by Jax Cosmetics."
"You had your own building at ELQ?" Michael asked incrediously.
Jason nodded, "I had an entire floor just for your playroom and nursery when you were little, so I could have you close by, even while I was working."
Michael smiled, the thought brought comfort to him, his father sharing his feelings like this. "Dad? Why did you sell your stock from ELQ, I mean, aren’t they part of the family?" he asked carefully watching for Jason’s reaction.
Jason took a deep breath and frowned slightly, thinking of the best way to say this, "they are family, but yours and Spencer’s. Not mine and not your mother’s. It’s been like that for a long time, why do you ask?"
"Well, Spencer and I were visiting Mary today and we just kind of got to talking about us and them. Do you hate them?"
Jason shook his head vigorously, "no, I don’t hate them, I just don’t like them. When I first woke up, they wanted Jason Quartermaine and I couldn’t be him for them, it was too hard so I left. They’ve always seen me as him, and I can’t stop being me, I don’t want to, they need to accept that."
"What about Aunt Emily and Uncle A.J?"
"Emily wanted her brother, not Jason Q, she loved me for me. A.J, well," Jason paused, trying to choose his words carefully, "he was a guy who was nice but tried too hard, we just didn’t get along after awhile."
"Because of Tony Jones?"
Jason looked at Michael sharply, "who told you about that?" he demanded.
Michael’s eyes arched with surprise, "Dad, it’s not hard to find out, just go to the library."
Jason nodded slowly, he couldn’t hide all the pain of the past, "it was that but a little more. Anyway," he said turning both towards the stairs, "it’s all in the past now."
Michael nodded, the past was the past and yet the thought kept on with him. If A.J. had a court order for a paternity test, then his mother had obviously slept with him. Michael shuddered slightly at the thought, imagining either parent with another gave him chills. There had been a chance, a real chance that he could have been A.J.’s son. Michael entered his room and shut the door behind, wandering into the bathroom and splashing some cold water on his face but before drying it off, he stared hard at himself in the mirror. What if, just what if the test hadn’t been done, or what if it hadn’t been done right? Michael shook his head, of course it had been done, he was with his parents now wasn’t he?
Michael lay down in his bed, and shivered slightly. Either way, he needed to know himself.
*******************************
Jason crawled into bed, trying not to disturb Carly, but she turned over and peered at him.
"Can’t sleep hon?" she asked sleepily.
"Michael and I had a little moonlight chat, just like we used to when he was little," Jason responded as he settled into bed. Carly nestled herself against Jason, her leg, gently over his as she layed her head on his chest. She sighed as Jason wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
"Is he alright?" she asked her tone slightly concerned.
"Yeah, just couldn’t sleep."
"Mmmm, like father like son," she murmured as the two fell asleep.
***************************************
Mary jolted awake to the sound of a muffled ringing. Her phone was ringing, Mary immediately began fumbling around the floor, almost falling out of her bed in the process, looking for her phone. Finally, she found it on the third ring.
"You are so dead for calling me at this hour," she grumbled into the phone. She knew exactly who it was.
"Sorry, I just needed to talk to someone," Michael said quietly. Mary turned over and looked at the clock, groaning slightly, "it’s 3:30am Michael, couldn’t this have waited until I actually woke up in the morning?"
"Look, I’m sorry," he said tersely, "I need your help with something."
Mary flopped back and stared at the ceiling, she was always getting roped into these things.
"What?"
"I need to know for sure about the blood test, will you help me?"
Mary’s eyes snapped open, "what? Are you kidding me? Jason is your dad, A.J. Quartermaine isn’t."
"I know that!" Michael whispered hoarsely, " I just have to be totally sure, and I want to do this, but I need YOUR HELP."
Mary shook her head slightly, if Michael became determine, he would literally not stop until satisfied. "Okay, I’ll help you, come over at about 9a.m. okay?"
"Sure, and thanks Mary," Michael added.
"Right, everybody loves Mary,"Mary responded slyly before hanging up.
***************************************
Wyndemere-the next morning
Nikolas Cassadine descended the stairs in his riding outfit and grabbed a scone from the breakfast table, he glanced quickly at the Grandfather clock and sighed, they were late, as usual.
"Raphael!" his voice boomed throughout the house, "downstairs, now!"
He was quickly answered by a pair of thundering feet descending the stairs.
"Sorry Father, I couldn’t find my riding boots," Raphael apologized as he straightened his pants and smoothed his shirt. Nikolas frowned, "Raphael, I’ve asked you countless times to take care of your things properly, this would not happen if you put your boots where they are supposed to go."
Nikolas shook his head but ruffled his son’s hair a bit affectionately, "no matter, Providence is waiting outside for you, come along."
Raphael frowned slightly, he hated his father’s disaproval, but it was his own fault, he knew better. In frustration, he turned and gave the bottom stair a mighty kick.
"Raphael, you know better than to take out your frustrations on other things in the house."
Raphael turned around and blushed with embarassment, "sorry Grandfather."
"You need more patience and to release your anger in more appropriate ways and times." Stefan Cassadine said as he unbuttoned his jacket and sat comfortably on the chesterfield, motioning for the 8 year old to join him. Raphael thumped down next to him and frowned, "I should be more patient right? Father keeps saying that all the time. With school and riding, he says I’ll appreciate it when I get older."
Stefan smiled at the serious boy, he reminded him so much of Nikolas. Dark hair, dark eyes and of course, a brooding demeanor, but the sunny personality of his mother, Gina.
Stefan’s smile faded, if Gina were only here now. "Run along, your father is waiting for you." Raphael nodded and dashed out of the room. Stefan smiled fondly as he picked up a recent picture of the family, together. Stefan, Nikolas and Alexis, with their children. Stefan ,Nikolas and Raphael and Alexis with Dominic. All happy children, all having lost one parent. Gina had died in a tragic car accident almost three years ago and before that, Alexis lost her husband, Giorgio to cancer. Tradgedy followed their family like a disease. Except Helena, of course, she thrived on the misery of others. In most cases, she was the cause of it.